The Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas has met on a visit to Beirut with Samir Kuntar, the terrorist recently released by Israel who murdered four Jews in 1979. According to the notorious terrorist, his meeting with Abbas came about at Abbas’ direct request. An Abbas aide has claimed that the meeting came at Kuntar’s request, a claim repeated by Abbas himself to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when the latter confronted him angrily on the subject during a summit between the two men on Sunday (‘Samir Kuntar: I met with Abbas in Beirut at his request,’ Haaretz, September 2, 2008). The ZOA maintains that it is irrelevant who initiated the Kuntar-Abbas meeting, as no genuinely moderate peace-maker would meet with Kuntar.

Abbas’ meeting with Kuntar is only the latest in a series of actions by Abbas and the PA honoring Samir Kuntar. At the time of the multiple murderer’s release, Abbas personally congratulated Kuntar’s family on his release (‘Abbas congratulates Kuntar’s family for killer’s release,’ Haaretz, July 16, 2008). Moreover, Abbas’ Fatah party organized a celebratory rally to mark the occasion in Ramallah, while a senior advisor to Abbas, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, hailed the release of Kuntar and other terrorists by Israel saying, “This is an historic victory over Israeli arrogance” and praised Kuntar as a “big struggler” (Khaled Abu Toameh, ‘Haniyeh: Release thousands for Schalit,’ Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2008). Additionally, Ziad abu al-Enain, director-general of the PA Ministry for Prisoner Affairs of the Salam Fayyad government and one of Fatah’s senior members in the territories, said “The Palestinians congratulate Hizbullah and its leader and send their best wishes to all the Lebanese people and to all the Palestinians upon the completion of the deal and the release of heroes, headed by the prisoners’ leader, Samir Kuntar” (Ali Waked, ‘Abbas congratulates Kuntar’s family; Haniyeh: Israel will pay more,’ Yediot Ahronot, July 16, 2008).

Kuntar, a member of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), had been serving multiple life terms following his capture in Nahariya in April 1979 when he and other PLF terrorists seized Danny Haran, 28, and his 4-year old daughter, Einat, in their home and removed them to the Nahariya beachfront where Kuntar shot Danny Haran in front of his daughter, then drowned him in the sea to ensure he was dead, before smashing the 4-year-old’s skull with a rock and crushing it with the butt of his rifle. Danny Haran’s wife, Smadar, managed to hide her with her other daughter, 2-year-old Yael, whom she accidentally suffocated in an effort not to betray their whereabouts while hiding in another part of their apartment when her husband and other daughter were seized by Kuntar.

Abbas’ attitude to terrorists and terrorism towards Israel:

• On suicide bombers: “Allah loves the martyr” (Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2005).


• On wanted Palestinian terrorists: “heroes fighting for freedom” (Ed O’Loughlin, ‘Abbas courts Gaza militants for votes,’ Age [Melbourne], January 3, 2005); “Israel calls them murderers, we call them strugglers” (Jerusalem Post, December 25, 2004).


• On Palestinian terrorist leaders Yasser Arafat, Hamas’ Ahmad Yasin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Fathi Shikaki: “martyrs” (Palestinian Media Center, September 14, 2005).

·        On Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine founder and leader George Habash: “The death of this historic leader is a great loss for the Palestinian cause and for the Palestinian people for whom he fought for 60 years” (‘PFLP founder George Habash mourned as “historic leader for Palestinians”‘,’ Daily Star [Beirut], January 28, 2008).

·        On using terrorism: “At this present juncture, I am opposed to the armed struggle because we can’t succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different” (‘Abbas: Armed ‘resistance’ not ruled out,’ Jerusalem Post, February 28, 2008).

• On Fatah’s pioneering role in terrorism: “I had the honor of firing the first shot in 1965 and of being the one who taught resistance to many in the region and around the world; what it’s like; when it is effective and when it isn’t effective; its uses, and what serious, authentic and influential resistance is … We [Fatah] had the honor of leading the resistance and we taught resistance to everyone, including Hizbullah, who trained in our military camps” (‘Abbas: Armed ‘resistance’ not ruled out,’ Jerusalem Post, February 28, 2008).


• On the Lebanese terrorist group Hizballah: A source of pride and sets an example for the “Arab resistance” (Jerusalem Post, August 6, 2006).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “Mahmoud Abbas’ latest show of support for terrorists and terrorism comes as no surprise to the ZOA which has warned for years about the unreconstructed extremism and duplicity of the PA leader who does not in fact oppose terrorism, and who does not embrace making peace with Israel and accepting its existence as a Jewish state. After all, if Abbas, as the record provided above shows, praises terrorists as heroes and martyrs, takes pride in his own pioneering role in the history of Arab terrorism and condemns Israeli strikes that eliminate terrorists, then he is clearly not someone who would be shocked to meet Samir Kuntar.

“The very fact that Abbas and other heads of terror groups would insist on the release of their jailed terrorists is proof positive that they have no interest in peace, no interest in fighting terrorists or arresting them. Consider: if Abbas was genuinely interested in peace and reconciliation with Israel, he would punish terrorists, he would condemn terrorists and dismantle their networks and he would oppose the freeing into his streets of hundreds of armed and unrepentant killers. In short, if Abbas was truly interested in peace, he would be doing the diametric opposite of what he is actually doing.

“The Israel and U.S. governments should understand this and draw the logical conclusions, which include cutting ties, ending concessions and, in the case of the U.S., terminating financial aid of $600 million to Abbas and the PA.”